Rear-curtain-operating device for automobiles



G. S. GREEN Aug. 12, 1930.

REAR CURTAIN OPERATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Oct. 19, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 1 l NVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 6201296 ,6. Green BY G. S. GREENAug. 12, 1930.

REAR CURTAIN OPERATING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Oct. 19. 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR zor ge S. Green 7% ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 12,1930 GEORGE s. GREEN, or PORTLAND, MAINE REAR-CURTAIN-OPEBATING DEVICE.FOR AUTOMOBILES Applicationfiled October 19, 1928. Serial No. 313,504.

This invention relates to means for lowering the rear spring curtain ofa motor vehicle at will, whereby the glare from other vehicles comingfrom behind will be eliminated.

'One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above naturewhich may be readily controlled from the instrument board or other pointconvenient to the drivers seat.

A further object is to provide a device of the above'nature havingdetachable means for retaining the curtain in its lowered position.

A further object is to provide curtain-con 1 trolling mechanism of theabove nature adapted to be operated by power derived from the suction ofthe engine.

A further object is to provide curtain-controlling mechanism having twosuction conduits, one of which will cause the shade to unroll and rendera detent efiective to retain the shade in lowered position, the otherconduit serving to render said detent inefiective for releasing theshade which will then be rolled up by its spring.

A further object is to provide a device of this nature which will besimple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install,compact, ornamental in appearance,

and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there have been illustrated on theaccompanying drawings, several forms in which the invention may beconveniently embodied in practlce.

Fig. 1 represents a shade or curtain and the mechanism for operating thesame.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view illustrating one of the joints between theshade and its operatingmechanism.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on an enlarged scale of theshade-operating mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1.

' Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a side'view, partly in section, illustrating the manualcontrol device as it appears when mounted on the instrument 52 board.

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the manual control mechanism of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a side view of the valve controlling andle.

Fig. 8 is a view of the valve block of the manual control mechanismlooking at the face over which the valve controlling handle oscillates.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrating a modified form ofdetent mechanism.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a modified form of manual controlmechanism.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the valve controlling handle employedwith the mechanism of F 1g. 10.

It is well known that when driving a motor vehicle at night, the glarecoming through the rear window from the headlightsof cars following isoften very annoying. This annoyance ma be avoided by drawing the reancurtain or s ade down over the window, but' this shade is generally outof the reach of the driver, making it necessary for him to stop the carto lower the shade.

By means of the present invention, the above and other disadvantageshave been avoided.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotecorrespondin parts through the several views, thenumera 10 indicates acurtain or shade mounted upon a spring roller 11, the latter beingsupported in the usual brackets 12 and 12 at the rear window of amotorcar such as a sedan. The shade 10 is provided at its bottom with theusual wooden rod 13 from each end of which extends a screw eye 14 forsupporting the upper ends of a pull chain 15 guided by a air ofdiverging tubular members 1 1. The ower ends of the pull chain 15 areconnected by a wire link member 15 to a screw bolt 16 forming part of aloosely-fitting piston member 17 adapted to reciprocate in an elonatedcylinder 18. The bolt 16' extends downwardly through a flanged spoolmember 19 and carries a metal guide washer 20 at its lower end. Aleather cup washer 21 is secured upon the top of the piston member 17,as by a nut 22. In order to draw the shade to'its lower or r roller.

closed position, the lower end of the cylinder 18 is provided with anend cap 30 having a small tubular projection 31 communicating with theinterior of the cylinder 18 and fitting into the end of a flexiblesuction con.- duit 32. Provision-is also made of aside opening 33 nearthe bottom of the cylinder 18, said opening 33 being covered by a detentcasing 34 having an interior chamber 35 in alinement with the opening 33The casing 34 is separated from the'cylinder 18 by a flexible diaphragm37, as of leather or'rubber. The casing 34, and the diaphragm 37, aresecured to the cylinder 18 in any suitable manner, as by screws 38. Thecasing 34 is also provided with a tubular extension 39 communicatingwith the interior of the chamber 35'and fitting into the end of aflexible suction conduit 40.

In order to detachably hold the piston 17 at" the bottom of the cylinder18, the diaphragm 37 is provided with a detent plate 41, the upper edgeof which is positioned between the diaphragm 37 and the edge of theopening 33 in the cylinder 18 so that said aperture 47 wit-h theapertures 48 and 49 late 41 will swing about said edge as a pivot. eplate 41 and diaphragm 37 are urged toward the inside of the cylinder bymeans of the suction in the cylinder 18. The spiral spring 42 holds theplate 41 in locked positionafter the washer 20 passes below said plate.

In operation, when suction is applied to the conduit 32 by mechanism tobe later described, the piston 17 will be drawn to the bottom of thecylinder 18 and the shade will thereby be drawn across the rear window(not shown). When the piston approaches the bottom of the cylinder, theguide washer 20 will move by the detent plate 41, forcing it outwardlyagainst the action of the spring- 42. When the washer 20 moves below theplate 41, the latter will be forced inwardly partly by the sprin 42 andpartly by the suction in the'cylin er 18 intoengagement with the upperor back face of the washer 20, the plate 41 thus serving,to hold thepiston down and the shade unrolled. This detent action is necessary onaccount of the fact that the suction at the source of vacuum, such asthe intake manifold, is variable and often diminishes to such a point,as when the car is ascending a hill, that the shade would otherwise rollup into open position.

When it is desired to raise the shade, the suction will he released inthe conduit 32 and applied to the conduit 40,. whereupon the diaphragm37 andplate 41 will be drawn back against the action of the s ring 42.The lower edge of the plate 41 wi I thus be withdrawn from the path ofthe washer 20, releasing the piston 17 and permitting the shade 10 to beagain wound up by the spring bular projections 31 and 39 of the cylinder18. The central tube 44 is connected to a flexible conduit 50 leading toa source of vacuum, preferably the intake manifold of the englne.

A control lever 51 having a flat face is ivotally mounted in fiatcontact with the Face of the block 43, said lever 51 being pressedagainst said block 43 by a plate 51 pressed by springs 51 mounted onheaded screws 51". The lever 51 has an aperture 51 fitting upon a pivotpin 52 upstanding from said block 43.

In order to selectively connect the suction for raising or lowering theshade 10, the control handle 51 has a pair of angularly disposed grooves53 and 54 in its face, said grooves terminating in recesses 55, 56 and57. The grooves 53 and 54 are so positioned that when the lever is swungdownwardly, the recess 55 will be brought into register with theaperture 48, and the recess 56 will then regis ter with the aperture 47,thereby connecting the tubes 44 and 45. On the other hand, when thelever is swung upwardly to the osition shown in Fig. 5, the recess 55will be rought into register with the aperture 49 and the recess 57 willregister with the aperture 47, thereby connecting the tubes 44 and 46.

The control lever is provided with a handle 58 adapted to projectthrough a suitable slot 60 in-the instrument board 59. The slot 60 issurrounded at the front of the instrument board by a rectangular plate61 held in place by screws 63 passing through the plate 61 and threadedinto a pair of ears 64 projecting from the valve block 43. The controllever 51 is preferably beveled at the end farthest from the handle toprovide stop edges 65 and 66 adapted to engage the screws 51 to limitthe rotation of the lever 51 in both directions.

In operation, it will be evident that upon depressing the handle 58,suction will be communicated through the conduit 32 and the shade 10will be unrolled b the downward movement of the piston 17, eing retainedin this condition by engagement of the washer 20 by the detent plate 41.When it is de- 1 be communicated through the conduit 40m nected thedetent plate 41 will be withdrawn to ineffective position, thusreleasing the piston 17 which will fly up under the influence of theshade roller sprlng.

In the modified form of cylinder and detent means shown in Fig. 9 thepiston-operating suction conduit32 is connectedwith a nipple 67 at theside of a cylinder 68 correspondmg with the cylinder 18 of the firstform of the invention already described. The detent-releasing conduit 40in this embodiment is connected with a nipple 69 depending from thebottom closure member 70. Fixedly mounted in the cylinder 68 between theside nipple 67 and the closure member 70, provision is made of apartition 71 having a post 72 at one side thereof, one end of a bellcrank detent lever 74 being pivoted to said post 72. The upper andlonger arm of said bell crank lever 74 has a detent hook 75, said hookbeing bevelled at 76 for engaging a beveled inwardly extending flange 77on a hollow looselyfitting shade-operating piston 78. Between thepartition 71 and the end closure member 70, provision is made of aplunger 79 cony a rod 80 to the bell crank lever 74 at the point 80thereof.

In the operation of the modified form of the invention, when suction iscommunicated to the conduit 32, the piston 78 connected with the shadechain 15 will be drawn downwardly until the piston engages the beveledupper end of the hook 74. During this operation, the detent hook 75 willfirst be swung to the left as viewed in Fig. 9, but will immediately beagain forced to the right for engaging the upper part of the flange 77,it being understood that the plunger 80 will exert an upward pressureupon the bell crank lever 74 by reason of the suction exerted on thepiston 79 from the conduit 32. Upon relief of the suction in the conduit32 and the application of suction in the conduit 40, the plunger 80 willbe drawn down and will swing the hook 75 to inefi'ective position, thusreleasing the piston 77 and allowing the shade to rise. A

In the modified construction of the manual control mechanism shown inFigs. 10 and 11, a block 81 is provided which has openings 82, 83, 84.therein, similar to the openmgs 47, 48 and 49 in the form of controlblock previously described. The block 81 is adapted to be secured to theinstrument board 59 by an upstanding flange 85 having holes 86 forreceiving screws 86. The control lever 87 has a handle 88 and on itsunder face is provided with a pivot socket 89, fitting upon a pivot pin90 on the block 81. An arouate slot 91 is also formed in the lever 87for fitting about a tension screw 92 which limits the rotation of thelever 87 in both directions, a coiled spring 92 being located on saidscrew 92 for ressing said lever 87 u on the block 81. ear the end of thelever B provision is made of an arcuate recess 93 which serves toselectively connect the central hole 82 with the right and left handholes 83 and 84 respectively depending on the direction the handle 88 isswung.

While there have been disclosed in this specification several forms inwhich the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that theseforms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures, but may bemodified and embodied in various other forms without, departing from thespirit thereof. In short, the invention includes all the modificationsand embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described theinvention, what is claimed as new, andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device for operating an automobile spring roller shade from aremote point, means for pneumatically unrolling said shade, detent meansfor holding it in unrolled condition, and means for releasing saiddetent means to permit said spring roller to roll up said shade.

2. In a shade-operating device, the combination with a spring roller anda shade thereon, means for controlling said shade from a distant pointincluding a suction-operated device for unrolling said shade,detentmeans for holding said shade in unrolled condition, and means forreleasing said detent means to permit the spring roller to roll saidshade.

3. In a shade operating mechanism, a cylinder, a spring-actuated pistontherein having. connection with a shade, detent means adjacent one endof said cylinder for holding said piston, suction-operated and pivotedmeans to draw said piston into position to be engaged by said detentmeans, and suction-operated means to release said detent means.

4. In a shade operating mechanism, a cylinder, a shade, a piston in saidcylinder having connection with said shade and normally urged toward oneend of said cylinder, a detent at the other end of the cylinder, asuction conduit connected with said cylinder to draw said piston intoposition for engage- .ment by said detent, and means for releasing saiddetent.-

5. In a shade operating mechanism, a

cylinder, 9. spring-wound shade, apiston in shade, pneumatic meanscommunicating with one endof said cylinder for moving said piston tolower said shade, a spring-pressed detent for holding said piston inlowered position, and pneumatically-controlled detent releasing means topermit said shade to automatically roll up.

7. In a shade operating mechanism, a cylinder, a shade, a piston in saidcylinder connected with said shade, a suction conduit communicating withone end ofsaid cylinder, a chamber communicating with one side of saidcylinder, a detent urged toward the interior of the cylinder to hold thepiston at one end of said cylinder, and detent-releasing across saidchamber and controlled by relative changes of fluid pressure at oppositesides thereof.

8. In a shade operatin mechanism, a cylinder, 9. spring rol ed sha e, apiston therein connected to said shade, a suction conduit communicatingwith one end of said cylinder, a chamber communicating with one side ofsaid cylinder, a detent in said chamber, spring means for urging saiddetent toward the interior of said cylinder to hold the piston at oneend of said cylinder, (latent-releasing means including a diaphragmextending across said chamber and controlled by relative changes offluid pressure at opposite sides thereof.

9. In a shade operating mechanism, a spring. rolled shade,- a cylinder,a suctionoperated piston therein connected to said shade, asuction-operated detent adapted to hold said piston in lowered position,and means to exert suction upon said piston and detent to lower saidpiston and lock it down, and means to exert suction upon said detent torelease said piston.

In testimony whereof, I have aflixed my signature to this specification.

' GEORGE S. GREEN.

means including a diaphragm extending

